Pier to Pier

The Essex coast runs along the north bank of the River Thames then turns northwards passing Shoeburyness, the Dengy peninsular, Jaywick, Clacton, Frinton and Walton-on-the-Naze before reaching Harwich. An unusual way to see the coast and what it has to offer is to take a boat trip from Southend to Clacton Pier. The route follows in the wake of the Thames Barges that sailed in years gone by, their holds bulging with agricultural goods, hay or building materials, bound for London and returning often loaded with the 'London Muck' destined for the fields of rural Essex.

On this pier to pier journey many of the places referred to in the Essex Hundred come into view. An additional detour along the River Blackwater reveals even more.

The starting point, Southend Pier, has seen its fair share of ups and down over the years and July is a significant month. July 8th 1929 saw the pier's completion to its full length of 1.34 miles (2158 metres). Unfortunately some 47 years later, on July 29th 1976, a devastating fire destroyed the pier head, the scars of which are still visible today.

Leaving Southend's famous landmark, one of the first sights is that of the beached Mulberry harbour section adjacent to Thorpe Bay which is only partially visible at high tide. To the east and further out in the estuary are rows of giant wind turbines. Still standing too are the disused Second World War forts that guarded the approaches to the Thames.

Travelling north, it is possible to see and hear the explosions on the military testing range on Foulness Island. Passing along the Rochford Hundred coast, the route navigates over the mouth of the River Crouch at Burnham and makes for the Dengy Hundred shores. At the easterly tip of the Dengy peninsular, where the River Blackwater flows into the North Sea, the stone building of St Peter's Chapel on the Wall can be viewed close to Bradwell. It dates from St Cedd's arrival in England around 650AD. However the skyline is dominated by the brooding towers of the now defunct magnox Bradwell nuclear power station. This in turn stands on the site of the former World War II Bradwell Bay Airfield. On the opposite side of the Blackwater Estuary is East Mersea in the Winstred Hundred where the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould, when in residence, famously complained about the 'London Muck' whist busily writing his tragic novel Mehalah. Emptying into the Blackwater, running from Colchester and Wivenehoe, is the River Colne. Looking out to the North Sea is Brightlingsea, the town that was so traumatised by nine months of live animal export trade in 1995.

A few miles north and now within the confines of the Tendring Hundred is Jaywick, just one of many residential areas to suffer the tragic consequences of the great flood surge in 1953. Scanning back south toward the Thames it is amazing how flat and low laying this stretch of the Essex coast is.

The final stop at Clacton Pier is the original venue of one of the most successful long running entertainers in show business, Bertram the Clown. July is also important for Clacton pier as on the 18th of the month Clacton pier will celebrate its 137th birthday. Weather permitting the journey on water from Southend to Clacton takes less than two hours, about the same, or less, than the road journey between the two towns, even assuming the roads are clear on the day.

The Essex coast continues from Clacton past gentile Frinton and then to Walton where the famous tower can be seen and on a cold January day in 1966 the MV Mi Amigo, the base ship of the pirate Radio Caroline was blown ashore. Turning east at the great sea port of Harwich where Samuel Pepys was an MP, the Essex Coast follows the River Stour into the John Constable country of the Lexden Hundred and for the time being the journey comes to an end.

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